Venetian blind attachment



1547. r M. w. ALBRECHT VENETIAN BLIND ATTACHMENT Filed March 5; 1945 m F Z r Wm Patented Oct. 21, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VENET-IAN' BLIND ATTACHMENT Maxi W. Albrecht, Chicago, 111.-

Application March 5, 1945; Serial No; 581,068"

4 Claims;

This invention relates to a new and improved attachment adapted ionuse in supporting- Venetian blinds while the latter are being adjusted; cleaned, painted or otherwise renovated.

One of the difficulties-associated withthe pres ent' dayuse of Venetianblinds is the lack by the user of proper. facilities forcleaning, painting, adjusting or otherwise renovating the blinds. One ofthe principal reasonsfor thisdifficulty is the lack of adequate means to support the blinds while they are beingcleanedior' repaired:

The present .inventionhas for one of its objects the: provision of. a new and: improved type of supporting: device for holding a Venetian blind inv a: positionremoved from its wall. bracket, but at the same timeina normal:suspendediposition in which the slats of the blind are readily-accessible and the tapes of the; blind are suspended in thesaine positions they would ordinarily occupy when. the blind is in its wall brackets;

Another object of the invention. is to: provide a; Venetian. blind: accessory which: is; simple and inexpensive to. manufacture, and: which. canbe employed in. a simple and readily understood manner.

Another object" of? the invention is to provide a new and improved type of wall bracket into which. an. accessory of the type herein described may be readily fitted.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent by reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in-

which:

Fig, 1 illustrates inperspective a pair of wall brackets and a pair of blindsupporting accessories adapted to support a Venetian, blind in the manner shown, they blind. being shown: in dotted; lines;

Fig. 2: illustrates thewallibracket perse: and

Fig. 3 illustrates the supporting accessory per se.

As illustrated in the drawings, the blind supporting accessories I and 2 are identical except that one is a left-hand member and the other is a right-hand member. For the purpose of description, the various parts of the two accessories will, however, be referred to with the same numerals.

The installation or wall brackets 3 and 4 likewise are similar in construction except that the bracket 3 is a left-hand bracket while the bracket 4 is a right-hand bracket. Like numerals will also be used in describing these two brackets.

The supporting accessories I and 2 are preferably made from metal or other suitable material which is stamped or out in any suitable manner 2 and then formed to the general shape illustrated in the drawings. Each of the accessories land 2 comprises an. outwardly extending element 5, the end portion of which is seated in a wallbracket in 1 the mannershown;

The wall brackets 3. and 4" are each provided with a pressed-in part 6 which is spaced from the top"? ofeach bracket a distance substantially corresponding to the height of the element 5. The fastening members 6 are pressed in from the wall? of the brackets a: distance slightly greater than the width of each of the elements 5, thereby permittingthe elements 5. to be inserted through thespace between themember 6, the side wall 8, and the top 1 of eachbraoket. The ends 9 of the elements 5 will'tend to pivot around the fastening members 6' but are prevented from moving because they areagainstthe inner surfaces of the top! of each bracket. It will be apparent that there may be some slight. movement of the elements 5 in the brackets 3 and 4 without departing from the invention.

It willbe-observed that the elements 5' extend forwardly from the wall'brackets a substantial distance even when-the end 9 is pressed against the rear end N3 of the bracket. Thus, the blind supporting accessory is projected out into the room and away-from the-window over which the blind is ordinarily hung;

A downwardly depending intermediate portion i l of each of the accessories I and 2 is in substantially the-same plane as the elements 5. The horizontal intermediate portion I2 extends from the downwardly depending portion II inan inwardly direction as shown in Fig. I for a relatively short distance; The accessories l and 2 then continue downwardly again in the form of: elements. l3 andextend outwardly again in the form'of element l4". Element l4 preferably has an upturnedend l5".

The Venetian blind l6, which is generally shown in dotted lines, is seated on the top of the outwardly extending portions l4 and cannot move inwardly because of the upwardly extending portions l3, nor outwardly because of the upwardly extending portions 15.

The blind I5 illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 comprises a. stationary bar 25 on which are mounted supporting devices 26 and 21 for a rotatable shaft 28. The clamping elements 29 and 30 are fixed to the bar 28 and also clamp the tapes 3!, 32, 33 and 34. Hence, when the bar 28 is rotated the tapes are moved up and down to close or open the slats 35. The entire mechanism is 3 placed within the brackets 3 and 4 with the bar 25 resting on the lower side of each bracket.

The installation brackets 3 and 4 differ from the conventional installation brackets in that they contain the pressed-in portions 6 which serve to support the accessories I and 2. It will be observed that the pressed-in portions 6 are close to the top of the brackets and do not interfere with the insertion of the Venetian blind Hi. The lower parts of the brackets 3 and 4 are each provided with an opening [1, through which a screw driver can be inserted for screws that are passed through the holes I8 in the top 1 of each bracket. The closure element I9 is a conventional type of closure element. It is pivoted to the wall 8 at the point 20 and can be moved upwardly to close the front of the bracket and hold the blind in place after the latter has been inserted into the bracket. Other screw holes 2| and 22 are provided in the ends and sides of the bracket, respectively, to facilitate the mounting of the bracket on a wall. The hole 23 is provided as a catch for a projecting portion 24 on the end closure IS.

The accessory devices described are so simple that it is believed their method of use will be readily apparent. The Venetian blind, as previously explained, is ordinarily held between the brackets 3 and 4. When it is desired to clean, paint, repair or otherwise renovate the blind the front closure elements l9 are moved outwardly and .the accesory supports l and 2 are inserted into the supporting element 6 in the brackets 3 and 4, respectively. The blind I6 is removed from the brackets 3 and 4 and placed on the supporting elements l4 of the accessories I and 2 in the manner shown in Fig. 1. This brings the blind out into the room away from the window a 'substantial distance, and at the same time drops it down to a point where it is still suspended above the floor, making all parts thereof readily and easily accessible.

The type of Venetian blind I6 shown in the drawing is a special type of blind, as described in my copending application Serial No. 581,067, filed March 5. 1945, but the invention is not limited to any particular or special type of blind. The special type of blind illustrated, however, is particularly adapted to fit in wall brackets of the type shown when the accessories I and 2 are removed therefrom.

It will be understood that some variations may be made in the devices described without departing from the invention. For example, instead of providing a single presssed-in portion 6 in each of the brackets 3 and 4, a pair of such pressed-in portions can be provided, spaced from each other from front to rear, one extending upwardly and the other downwardly.

The shape of accessories I and 2 may be varied somewhat without departing from the invention,

thus the inturned portions l2 could be at the top of the dependent portions II. It is essential, however, that the upper end of each accessory be fastened in some manner to an installation bracket or other fixture that the lower end be capable of supporting a Venetian blind and that the intermediate portion extend outwardly and downwardly.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination with a wall support, a righthand and a left-hand installation bracket, each fastened to the support and adapted to support a Venetian blind between them, means associated with each bracket for fastening a supporting device thereto, and a supporting device comprising an upper end mounted in said fastening means, a lower end adapted to hold a Venetian blind, and. an intermediate portion extending outwardly and downwardly below said installation bracket.

2. An accessory for supporting a Venetian blind Comprising a pair of supporting members consisting of a left-hand member and a right-hand member, each of which has an upper end adapted to be fastened to an installation bracket for a Venetian blind, a lower end adapted to hold a Venetian blind between them, and an intermediate portion extending outwardly, then inwardly and downwardly.

3. A bracket for supporting a, Venetian blind and an auxiliary support therefor, comprising a side wall portion, a top portion, and means extending inwardly and upwardly from said wall portion to slidably receive and support the auxiliary support between said means and the top of said bracket.

4-. In combination, a pair of brackets for normally supporting a Venetian blind for use, and an auxiliary bracket adapted to be detachably mounted on each of said first named brackets having an upper substantially horizontal portion attached to the first named bracket, and a lower blind supporting portion, whereby said Venetian blind can be removed from the first named brackets and placed on the auxiliary brackets for cleaning.

MAX W. ALBRECHT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 999,733 Ashmore Aug. 8, 1911 1,307,211 Newlon June 1'7, 1919 2,034,395 Hough Mar. 17, 1936 2,267,160 McKerlie Dec. 23, 1941 

